Originally planned as a regular
playable character, this tiger-like humanoid was based on the
Japanese mythological figure, Kintaro. According to the legend
he was abandoned in the mountains and grew up among the tigers.
However, constructing a costume of this magnitude simply wasn't
teasible. Kintaro's name and tiger stripes were retained when
the new Goro-relative boss was created.

This female fighter was based on a real-life kick-boxer named
Kathy Long, who Tobias admired and thought to be a totally noble
person.

Baraka is the character that
definitely went through the hugest amount of transformation
during the development stage of the game. He started as the man
with the hook swords (the picture located left of the text),
then he slowly morphed into the character we all know. The
picture and the description are located under this text.

Originally a humanoid with sharp
protrusions growing from his massive arms. Considering a
possible unfair reach advantage, Tobias gave him Wolverine-style
retractable blades and added the trademark teeth. Refining the
look further, Baraka's head was shaved for more "Nosferatu"
look. The stylish red dot which people misinterpreted as
symbolizing Japan, was also nixed.

The original Baraka mask pictured
on the image above was not used in the game, due to the fact
that it was disproportionately large and didn't fit well.
Instead, a Nosferatu mask was purchased from a nearby costume
shop and equipped with teeth made from Lee Press-On Nails!

Jax

The character
Jax was supposed to appear in Mortal Kombat 1 with Sonya's
story and the name Stryker. Due to the absence of a female
character in the game Sonya took his place. Now this fighter
returns with the name Jax instead of Stryker. In Mortal
Kombat 3 a complete new character with the name Stryker
appears.

Jax started
as an African-American kickboxer, but this idea was
discarded due to similarities with Balrog (from Street
Fighter 2). Then he donned a yellow costume with big metal
hands that "clanged" upon contact. However, this outfit
concealed much of actor John Parrish's impressive physique,
so Jax went shirtless.

Raiden

At one point
Tobias was going to add a staff to Raiden's thunderous arsenal,
but there wasn't enough computer memory to allow it. But the
staff after appears in Mortal Kombat 4.

Johnny Cage

The original
Johnny Cage costume had the line "Otomix" written on his pants.
The reason of its disappearance in the final game is unknown.
However, someone on the team forgot to edit a few of Johnny
Cage's sprites and you can still see the original outfit in Shang Tsung's Soul Steal
Fatality.

Shang Tsung

When Shang Tsung was granted a
youthful body, Tobias sketched out the transformation from
wizened old man to a spry 19-year-old. The demonic creature
represents Shang Tsung's true form, which we never see in the
game.

Shao Kahn

Originally
everyone in the Outworld was planned to be of Baraka's race, and
thus Shao Kahn started with the gnashing teeth. Tobias
originally conceived the boss as a skeletal creature, but
decided Kahn looked too much the part of the scheming Chinese
mystic like Shang Tsung. Kahn evolved into an all-out-warrior
who lives for battle.

Backgrounds Development

Kombat Tomb

An early version of the Kombat
Tomb arena was a little bit different. For example the Yin Yang
symbol on the background is missing.

The Tower

The Tower Stage actually had four
big statues placed on both ends of it. Those probably got cut to
save memory. Similar statues later appear in Mortal Kombat:
Shaolin Monks before the battle with Reptile.

Unused Special
Move

In Mortal Kombat II Baraka was
supposed to have a Blade Spin Special Move. But this move was a
too big advantage. So it was removed. Later this special move
appeared in Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Character Names

An early Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
build of the game actually had the names of the fighters
displayed under their life bar, much like the SNES version of
Mortal Kombat II. This later changed and the text was put back
in the life bars, like the arcade version.